Catching the Cat

The following is a read aloud story for June 2005. This is one of a series of stories especially written for Awana Clubs, home-schoolers, Sunday school classes, VBS, mission conferences, or just the fun of reading about children in a wild land called: “The Amazon Rain Forest”. Print them out. Collect them. E-mail them to others who have children and would like to get these stories. Use them for the glory of God! The Asheninca people, one of the many great Amazon Rain Forest tribes, have lived for centuries in a world of superstition and fear. The following months of stories, as I catch up, will be based around the actual observations I made while living in Ridge Village, on the Breu River, with the Asheninca people. Mo-SEE-ro, is an actual 10-year-old girl whom I watched and she has become the main character in this series of stories.

The old story teller, Douemi (Dough-way-MEE)
(Missionary/cultural observer with the Amazon tribes for many years)
Serving with New Tribes Mission, Sanford, Florida

Stumble. Fumble. Tumble. Crumble! And there was most likely a “mumble” as Mosiro lay in the middle of mud and grass and vines tangled around her bare feet. She had been racing down from the ridge to the river and did not see the root sticking up to grab her toes. Oh, it hurt so! The sudden crash into the earth had also left her a little breathless! And dizzy. The great white clouds were spinning around and around! She reached up and grabbed her head and almost started to cry. But…wait…Asheninca girls don’t cry! So, she just sat there waiting for the world to get all balanced once again…and she rubbed her sore toes.
Slowly she was able to stand once more and continue down the ridge to the river. Other children were there and splashing and crashing and having such a good time! Soon she had flung off her long robe and joined them. Nearby were older people who had been catfishing. The big striped catfish were trying to make their way down the Breu River because it was drying up more and more every day. Dry Season had come and there had been no rain in weeks. The fish were going from one deep pool to another as they migrated down to the big river. That meant that the Ridge Village people would be spearing them. Mosiro walked up the beach to where “Little Mike”, the village leader, was thrusting his spear into a deep pool…but hitting only sunken logs and sticks. “Mosiro! Dive down in the pool and feel around for a catfish!” And with that silly little smile, she immediately jumped in the water and was gone! Mosiro was a good swimmer. She went to the bottom and felt here and there, but nothing moved…and when she needed to come up for air, quite suddenly there was motion and something powerful under her hand! “Grab it!” Her brain was shouting at her, but also another voice was saying, “What exactly is it?” What if it was not a catfish? A sting ray fish? A WATER SNAKE? “Grab it!” Her lungs needed air badly. Oh my, what was Mosiro going to do? Her need of air answered for her! Up she went with quite a splash and startled Little Mike and his friends.
“Something BIG is down there!” she gasped hurriedly. Little Mike started thrusting his spear with renewed vigor, but he never hit anything. It must be under the log down there. “Mosiro! Go back down and get it!” Little Mike shouted. And now more people had come and all the children and they were all shouting, “Go get it! Go get it!” But what was it? Mosiro was not afraid, but she was cautious. She had seen people stung by sting rays or shocked by electric eels. There were many hurtful fish in the water. But…what could she do? They shouted and shouted for her to dive. So, taking in a big lungful of air, down she went again! Carefully…slowly…she felt under the log and way back inside found the fish laying there as it had been before. Oh my, will it bite me? Will it attack me? What is it? She softly ran her hand down the fish body and sensed the fish was ready to bolt away. The body narrowed and she knew she could grasp it’s tail in her hand. She got up her courage and GRABBED it! Then the fish began to fight. It swirled and curled and tried desparately to pull itself loose. Mosiro hung on for dear life. Up and up she went! AIR! She was greeted by great cheers from her family and friends. And there in her hand was the biggest catfish anyone had caught that day! Oh how good Mosiro felt!
The catfish was carried back up the ridge for a big meal. Mosiro’s heroics were soon forgotten. She was tired and her toes still hurt. Mosiro got out her pipe and lit it and just leaned back against a tree and smoked. What a day!
Would you have gone down and grabbed something if you did not know what it was? I hope not. Did Mosiro do something heroic, or did she actually do something very foolish? What if it had been an electric eel? What a shock that would have been! But you and I often do not use good judgment either…do we? I remember as a little boy being challenged by my friends to steal candy from the grocery store. They had successfully done it and gotten out of the store. So should I or shouldn’t I? That’s called “peer pressure”, and simply means doing something because everyone else is doing it. I grabbed some candy and put it in my coat pocket and ran out. I was a hero to my little friends. But my father and mother didn’t think it was so heroic, and they made me go back and tell the store man I had stolen the candy and now would like to pay for it! The Bible says we should “walk carefully”. Don’t do things without first thinking them through. Will it harm me? Is it right? Let Jesus guide you. And don’t smoke a pipe either!! Pray for Mosiro to know Jesus someday.